Hamburg

Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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HAMBURG

HAMBURG. Located along the Elbe River in northern Germany, Hamburg developed into one of the largest cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Between the latter half of the fifteenth century and the era of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), it grew from about 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants. In the early eighteenth century that number had risen to 75,000. By 1787 it reached 100,000, and in the era of French expansion, 130,000. The growth was not steady; for example, the plague years 1712 and 1713 cost many thousands of lives.

The city was a largely independent republic governed by a council of citizens, predominantly merchants and lawyers by profession. Since 1483 the right of political participation had been granted to eligible property-owning male inhabitants who swore an oath of citizenship. The year 1528 marked the successful and peaceful establishment of Lutheranism as the city's official religion, after which only Lutherans enjoyed full political privileges. The reformer Johann Bugenhagen (1485–1558) composed a church ordinance for Hamburg, which was adopted in 1529. That year the city also underwent a major constitutional reform. Thereafter, the government was composed of a council (Rat or Senat) of twenty-four members and a college (Kollegium) of 144 citizens' representatives, who came in equal numbers from the four parish districts of St. Jacobi, St. Nikolai, St. Petri, and St. Katarinen. With the addition in 1685 of a fifth district, St. Michaelis, the citizens' college grew to 180 members.

Constitutional tensions grew throughout the seventeenth century because some factions of the citizenry felt the council wielded power autocratically. A major crisis came in 1699 when the traditional constitutional order was suspended under pressure from the guilds. The period of political experimentation ended in 1708 when imperial troops arrived to reestablish the old order. The result was the constitutional recess of 1712, in which council and citizens' college were declared equal partners in Hamburg's governance. This arrangement lasted until 1806.

Since the late fifteenth century the Danish monarchy had had hopes of forcing Hamburg to submit to its authority, and Danish forces even laid siege to the city unsuccessfully in 1686. The 1626 completion of the city's modern fortress walls proved an advantage against Danish challenges, as well as against the conflicts of the Thirty Years' War, during which Hamburg remained neutral and unscathed. Although Hamburg was ostensibly in the imperial orbit for most of the early modern era, it was not until 1768, when Denmark recognized the city's independence, that it officially joined the ranks of the imperial free cities. Throughout its history Hamburg has been a major commercial port. Until
the Hansa dissolved in the seventeenth century, Hamburg was one of the long-standing members of the loose economic and political alliance. In 1558 it opened its stock exchange, the first in a German territory, and in 1619 its first merchant bank was founded. The city's merchants shipped goods all across Europe, and by the end of the eighteenth century destinations included ports worldwide. Other major economic activities included whaling, insurance, sugar refining, textile production, and tobacco preparation.

By the seventeenth century confessional outsiders made up a significant minority of the city's population, and non-Lutherans contributed in important ways to the city's economy. For political and economic reasons the council allowed members of the best established of non-Lutheran communities (Calvinists, Catholics, Jews, and Mennonites) to settle in Hamburg. Nonetheless, because of pressure from Lutheran clergymen, religious minority communities were denied the privilege of practicing religious rites publicly in the city; non-Lutheran religious services were usually held in nearby Altona. This restriction on public worship was removed in 1785 for Calvinists and Catholics only. Non-Lutheran Christians could become citizens, albeit with limited rights of political participation. Probably the city's best-known non-Lutheran resident was the Jewish diarist Glueckel von Hameln (1646–1724).

Among the city's cultural leaders were Gerhard Schott (1641–1702), founder of the first public opera in the German territories; the organ builder Arp Schnitger (1648–1719); and the composers Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788). Founded in 1765, the Hamburger Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Künste und nützlichen Gewerbe (Hamburg society for the encouragement of the arts and useful crafts; also known as the Patriotische Gesellschaft or Patriotic Society) stands out among many institutions of
Enlightenment-era public life. Its founding members included the mathematics professor Johann Georg Büsch (1728–1800), the philosopher Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768), and the architect Ernst Georg Sonnin (1713–1794). The literary masters Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) and Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) both spent time in Hamburg. Philipp Otto Runge (1777–1810) is one of Hamburg's best-known painters.

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Hamburg (city, Germany)

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.

Copyright The Columbia University Press

Hamburg (häm´bŏŏrkh), officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), city (1994 pop. 1,702,900), coextensive with, and capital of, Hamburg state (288 sq mi/746 sq km), N Germany, on the Elbe River near its mouth in the North Sea, and on the Alster River. The economic center of Germany and its second largest city, Hamburg is the nation's busiest port and its major industrial city. Manufactures include copper, vegetable and mineral oils, machinery, electrotechnical goods, and cigarettes. Its harbor handles approximately one half of Germany's imports (foodstuffs, tea, coffee, and petroleum) and exports (machinery, processed petroleum, copper, and pharmaceuticals).

Hamburg originated (early 9th cent.) in the Carolingian castle of Hammaburg, probably built by Charlemagne as a defense against the Slavs. It became (834) an archepiscopal see (united in 847 with the archdiocese of Bremen) and a missionary center for northern Europe. The city quickly grew to commercial importance and in 1241 formed an alliance with Lübeck, which later became the basis of the Hanseatic League. Hamburg accepted the Reformation in 1529. In 1558 the first German stock exchange was founded there; with the arrival of Dutch Protestants, Portuguese Jews, and English cloth merchants (expelled from Antwerp), and with the expansion of commercial ties with the United States after 1783, Hamburg continued to prosper.

The city was occupied by the French in 1806 and in 1815 joined the German Confederation. In 1842 a fire destroyed much of the city. After World War I Hamburg was briefly (1918–19) a socialist republic. In 1937 the city ceded Cuxhaven, its outlying port, to Prussia, but incorporated the neighboring towns of Altona, Harburg, and Wandsbek. During World War II (especially in 1943) Hamburg was severely damaged by aerial bombardment, and some 55,000 persons were killed. After the end of the cold war, the city became a transit port for trade with Central Europe and experienced a surge in shipping.

Hamburg today is an elegant, modern city and a cultural center, widely known for its opera, theaters, magazine and book-publishing houses, radio and television broadcasting centers, and film studios. At its center are two lakes, the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) and the Aussenalster (Outer Alster). The St. Pauli district, with its well-known street, the Reeperbahn, includes numerous places of entertainment. HafenCity, marked by striking modern buildings, is a major waterfront redevelopment of former port sections of Hamburg. Hamburg is the seat of a university (founded 1919), several museums, and medical and technical institutes. There are extensive zoological and botanical gardens. Noteworthy buildings include the baroque St. Michael's Church (1750–62), rebuilt (1907–12) after a fire; the Church of St. Jacobi (begun in the 14th cent.); and the Renaissance-style city hall (1886–97). Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms were born in the city.

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Hamburg

Hamburg. N. German city and port with long mus. tradition. Famous figures in its church mus. history who held office of Musikdirektor der Hauptkirchen incl. Sartorius (1604–37), Selle (1638–63), Telemann (1721–67), C. P. E. Bach (1767–88), and C. F. G. Schwencke (1788–1822). In 17th cent. Hamburg was leading centre of N German org. mus. Schnitger (1648–1719) was important org. builder and among distinguished orgs. were the Praetorius brothers, Reincken, and Lübeck. Became opera centre in 1678. Keiser, who moved to Hamburg in 1695, wrote over 50 operas for the company he directed from 1703 to 1706, with Handel as apprentice. Telemann wrote several operas for Hamburg. In 19th cent., Bernhard Pollini (Pohl) from 1874 established a Wagnerian reputation and engaged Mahler as cond. (1891–7). Later conds. incl. Klemperer (1910–12), Pollak (1917–31), and Böhm (1931–4). Opera house bombed 1943, rebuilt 1955. Conds. after 1945 incl. Arthur Gruber (1946–50), Leopold Ludwig (1951–71), Horst Stein (1972–7), Christoph von Dohnányi (1977–84), and Gerd Albrecht from 1988. Producers such as Günther Rennert and intendants such as Tietjen (1954–9), R. Liebermann (1959–73), August Everding (1973–7), and Peter Ruzicka (from 1988), lifted Hamburg to a leading place in European opera. Orch. concerts developed c.1660. C. P. E. Bach arr. concerts from 1768 for the next 20 years. Hamburg Philharmonic Orch. gave first concert in Jan. 1829 but was eclipsed from 1886 by concerts given by the opera orch. under Hans von Bülow. But Muck from 1922 transformed the playing until, when he retired in 1933, the orch. was merged with the opera orch. under joint cond. of Jochum and Schmidt-Isserstedt. After 1945 conds. incl. Keilberth and Sawallisch. In 1945 Schmidt-Isserstedt became chief cond. of Hamburg radio orch. which later toured Eng., Russ., and USA. Known as North German Radio SO from 1951. Gave f.p. (concert) of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, 1954. Atzmon was chief cond. 1972–9, Tennstedt 1979–82, Wand 1982–91, John Eliot Gardiner from 1991.

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Hamburg

Hamburg City, state, and port on the River Elbe, nGermany. Founded in the 9th century by Charlemagne, it became one of the original members of the Hanseatic League. Severely bombed during World War II, it is now Germany's second largest city. It is a notable cultural centre, with an opera house, art gallery and university (1919). Industries: electronic equipment, brewing, publishing, chemicals. Pop. (1999) 1,701,800.

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